6/15/2023 0 Comments Lost city of zedMentioned in despatches by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig 3 times and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in June 1917, Fawcett was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1918. He returned to Britain to serve in the Royal Artillery, commanding a brigade despite being nearly 50 years old, which was then deemed the upper age limit for military service. Fawcett was a decorated war heroįawcett’s time in South America was interrupted by the outbreak of World War One in Europe. ![]() ![]() In 1906, Fawcett travelled to South America for the first time in order to act as an independent cartographer, creating a map of the border area between Brazil and Bolivia at the behest of the Royal Geographic Society.īetween 19, he made a total of 7 expeditions into the Amazonian jungle to complete mapping projects, tracing the source of the Rio Verde and Heath River and charting previously unexplored jungle territories. Fawcett explored the jungle for nearly 20 years Rider Haggard and Arthur Conan Doyle amongst his friends, and Fawcett’s adventures proved inspiring for both writers.Ĭonan Doyle’s 1912 novel The Lost World used aspects of Fawcett’s travels in South America as inspiration. He served in Hong Kong, Malta and Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), and later worked for the secret service in North Africa and for the War Office in Ireland. Fawcett got a taste for adventure early on in lifeįawcett attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was commissioned as a lieutenant of the Royal Artillery in 1886, aged just 19. Here are 10 facts about Percy Fawcett and his quest for the forgotten city of Z. His quest took him into the jungles of South America in search of ancient ruins, and on one such expedition in 1925, he disappeared, never to be seen again. Their sophistication and elegance, combined with the romance and adventure of their disappearance into the jungle, captured the imagination of many an explorer.įawcett was far from the first, and certainly not the last, to be entranced by the promise of lost civilisations. ![]() Rumours of cities like Z were often based on truth: ancient South American civilisations often had copious quantities of gold and were built in inhospitable climates using pioneering techniques. 20th-century British explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett was one such lifelong devotee, searching in vain for the sophisticated jungle civilisation he termed the ‘Lost City of Z’. South America is home to countless legends of lost cities and hidden treasures: they have captivated imaginations for centuries and inspired huge searches and lifelong quests to try and discover them.
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